U.S. Route 202 in New York - History

History

Prior to 1934, the portion of modern US 202 within New York was known by several different designations. When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, the segment of what is now US 202 from the New Jersey state line to Wayne Avenue in Suffern was designated as part of NY 17. At the same time, the part now concurrent with US 9W from Haverstraw to the Bear Mountain Bridge was included in NY 10 while the section between Croton Falls and Brewster became part of NY 22. By 1926, the Bear Mountain Bridge, the highway linking the bridge to Peekskill, and the piece of current US 202 east of Brewster were designated as part of NY 37. Although all of what became US 202 was state-maintained by this point, no other sections of the route were assigned a designation by 1926.

Three portions of the route changed designations following the creation of the U.S. Highway System. In 1927, all of NY 10 south of Albany was replaced by the newly assigned US 9W. NY 37, meanwhile, was replaced by a realigned US 6 one year later. In the late 1920s, the segment of modern US 202 from Suffern to Haverstraw was designated as NY 61. The last remaining unnumbered section—between Peekskill and Croton Falls—received a pair of designations as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. From Peekskill to Somers, it became part of NY 116. At Somers, NY 116 continued east on its modern alignment toward Purdys while NY 118 followed modern US 202 northeast to Croton Falls.

NY 61 was supplanted c. 1934 by US 122, which was extended northward from Whitehouse, New Jersey, by way of modern County Route 523 and US 202. In Suffern, US 122 utilized a small part of NY 17, which was truncated to end at US 122 in the village center. US 122 was subsequently replaced by US 202, a new U.S. Route established by the American Association of State Highway Officials in June 1934 that extended from Bangor, Maine, to State Road, Delaware, south of Wilmington. In New York, US 202 continued north from Haverstraw to the Bear Mountain Bridge over US 9W and east to Connecticut by way of overlaps with US 6, NY 116, NY 118, and NY 22. The overlap with NY 116 was eliminated c. 1938 when NY 116 was truncated to its current western terminus in Somers.

While the portion of US 202 in New York has remained relatively unchanged since the route's assignment in 1934, the overlapping routes have changed over time. The alignments of NY 118 and NY 100 north of New Croton Reservoir were flipped c. 1939, placing NY 100 on the Croton Reservoir–Croton Falls highway. The resulting overlap between NY 100 and US 202 lasted as late as 1990; however, it was eliminated by 2004 when NY 100 was cut back to end at US 202 in Somers. In the early 1940s, the portion of US 202 between Peekskill and Amawalk became part of NY 35, an east–west route connecting Peekskill to Ridgefield, Connecticut.

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